


Midnight

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Babies, Bonding, F/M, New Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Owen Lars and the midnight feeding.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [karyatid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karyatid/gifts).



The baby cried, startling Owen from his dreams. He squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe the child would go back to sleep. Maybe Beru would wake and go take care of him.

No.

He saw her open one eye as he sat up, yawning. They didn't have to speak. Luke slept through about one in three nights. If he was theirs, Beru would have risen each time, gathered him from his cradle, and brought him into the bed to nurse. If he was theirs, Owen would have had months to get used to the idea of an infant, would have worried and read up on child care, would have massaged his wife's aching back, would have greeted their new family member with the first blink of his or her open eyes.

Luke kept crying. Owen groaned, shrugging on his dressing robe. They kept the cradle in their bedroom at the advice of Beru's big sister, who had two teenagers and a near-teen of her own. She'd brought them the cradle and the few baby clothes she'd kept as soon as Beru told her. She'd also given them a large set of bottles.

Owen lifted the baby in his arms, jostling him uncomfortably, and headed towards the kitchen. Heating a bottle took only a few seconds. Luke quieted as Owen stroked his lips open.

"Better?"

Wide-eyed, Luke drank the formulation the medical droid said was best for a newborn. Owen kept up the motion, kept his head a little upright, kept the patient smile Beru insisted he wear whenever he picked up the baby.

When the bottle was empty, Owen dropped it into the cleaner while placing Luke against his shoulder. "There you go," he said over and over, waiting for the fruity belch and praying it wasn't accompanied by vomit again. Babies were tubes, he'd decided in his two weeks of being a parent. Liquid and air went in one end, and came out both. No spit-up, but the other end was wet. Owen sighed and changed him.

"Now you want to go back to sleep," he said in as cheerful a voice as he could manage at this time of night. "What a good boy, going to sleep."

Luke burbled, unfocused eyes gazing blankly around the room before landing on Owen's face. His mouth moved into a wet, gummy grin. Owen had seen the few pictures his stepmother kept of Anakin when he was little, and he could see something there in the eyes when the baby looked at him this way. No blood of his, but family still. Owen's smile turned genuine, and he pressed his lips against the baby's hair.

"You're good at that, you know."

Beru stood in the doorway, half a yawn on her face. She hadn't pulled on her own dressing robe.

"Go back to sleep," he said. "I've got him."

"Hungry?"

"And wet. He's almost back to sleep. Aren't you, Luke?"

"Walk him for a few minutes and put him down. Tani says they learn to settle to sleep better if you set them to bed while they're still awake."

Owen thought that sounded like a load of dirt, but he nodded. "I will."

"I'll be awake when you come to bed," she said, and she kissed Owen's cheek, stroking Luke's head. "You really are a good dad. Better than you think." He watched her go with a sigh. She said she'd be awake, but he knew she'd be snoring by the time he crawled back into bed with her.

Owen placed Luke against his shoulder, holding his head as he paced for a while, listening to the noises outside. The baby made soft noises in his ear. His son.

Luke squirmed as Owen placed him back in the cradle, giving it a rock before he stepped away holding his breath. No crying, not as Owen took another step back, not as he took off his robe, not even as he climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around his wife, who turned her head and kissed him properly, awake and pleased to see him.

This was their home. This was their child. This was their life.

Owen liked it.


End file.
